The Real Estate Institute of NZ released its monthly residential property statistics this morning showing Hamilton’s median house price has dipped from a 2018 high of $560,000 in June to $525,000 in July.

Lodge Real Estate managing director Jeremy O’Rourke, says the shortage of quality stock at the top end of the market, and thus fewer sales at the top end, has shifted the city’s median.

"We’ve been saying for months that the Hamilton market is experiencing an incredibly short supply of quality homes for sale. It’s like a drought in a dry land at the moment - those of us who have been in the industry for many years have never seen stocks so lean.

"On the other side of the equation, buyer demand is not easing. This shortage of supply coupled with active buyers looking in the city means that quality homes are going for top dollar at auction where we are seeing multiple bidders in competition.

"There certainly continues to be upward pressure on house prices throughout the city."

Mr O’Rourke also said that homes which are over-priced are being ignored by buyers. "If homes are priced above buyer expectations, they can stay on the market for quite a long time."

Mr O’Rourke said the sale of lifestyle properties on the city’s boundaries are in particularly strong demand by Hamilton buyers.

"We’ve seen a shift in the past six months to higher demand for lifestyle properties on the edges of the city. Sales for the first six months of 2018 are 23% up on the last six months of 2017.

"Prices are also on the rise. Whereas the average sale price for these lifestyle blocks was consistently around $1M during the last six months of 2017, comparable properties consistently averaged around $1.1M during the first six months of 2018."

On the up side, Mr O’Rourke said Hamilton agents are reporting a rise in the number of home appraisals being performed. "We are quietly hopeful that the number of new homes being listed in Hamilton should rise as we move into spring."